Students, faculty want Connecticut college to build green
Students and faculty at Norwalk (Conn.) Community College plan to step up efforts when the school year begins to force a redesign of a health and science center that would make the college abide by more stringent standards for energy efficiency.The group collected nearly 600 signatures from students in the spring on a petition seeking a redesign, but administrators were not persuaded. At issue is a $29.8 million project, featuring a 50,000-square-foot, three-story center for health and science laboratories and classrooms, as well as office space. The General Assembly passed a bill last year requiring that state buildings costing more than $5 million comply with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards. But Norwalk’s science and health building is exempt because the legislature first approved its funding in 2004.